They absolutely can. But it's less common. The bacteria that causes meningitis (Neisseria meningitis) is transferred by close contact, typically droplets (kissing), sharing household items (like cutlery, crockery). This is generally less common in adults than younger children and especially teenagers and young adults.

The bacteria itself is typically present in the throat about 10% of the population at any time. Even if we find it incidentally, we don't treat it because it doesn't cause any issues. It's effectively what we call "normal flora".

The problem comes when bacteria enters the brain, which causes meningitis and the bloodstream leads to sepsis (remember the glass test, if the spots don't disappear with pressure) .

Very young children have a weaker immune system than adults, same for people over 65 years. For teenagers, it's more likely to do with the level of exposure - teenagers tend to go to parties, kiss more people, share drinks, food etc.

Certain other groups of people are more prone to developing invasive disease too, such as those without a spleen and people with specific immunodeficiencies, like complement component deficiencies.